Khalif Battle, Tramon Mark explain message during halftime, players-only meeting after deficit vs. Vanderbilt

Wednesday night’s SEC Tournament opener didn’t start the way Arkansas wanted. The Razorbacks trailed Vanderbilt 41-27 at halftime as they struggled on both sides of the ball.

After the break, they appeared to flip a switch – and the halftime message certainly got across.

Arkansas outscored Vanderbilt 51-37 after the break to force overtime and eventually come away with the 90-85 victory in Nashville. Khalif Battle led the charge with 24 points while Tramon Mark scored all 18 of his after halftime. The message from head coach Eric Musselman was simple, according to Battle, and the players responded in kind.

“That we were playing soft,” Battle told SEC Network’s Alyssa Lang. “And we took it personal from there. [Musselman] challenged a lot of the guys in the locker room, and we had to stand up to the challenge. And I think we did.”

Musselman didn’t do all the talking, though. Mark said the players spoke by themselves after the coaching staff left, and that helped light the spark to bounce back from the rocky start.

“It was definitely a fired up locker room, especially when the coaches left the locker room,” Mark said. “We had a players-only meeting, and we just called out each other, basically, and that fired us up. … Everybody had something to say, and it was good because we came out there with a chip on our shoulder in the second half. So it was good for us.”

As Arkansas came back to take the game to overtime, Khalif Battle said the players stressed staying together to get back into it. He pointed to the Razorbacks’ struggles this season, entering the SEC tournament with a 6-12 record during conference play.

With March well underway – and Madness looming – Battle said it’s a new season, and Arkansas is trying to prove it’s back on track.

“That we got to do this together,” Khalif Battle said. “We can’t break apart. We’ve got a team full of tough guys, resilient guys. Things haven’t went our way this year, but it’s still March and anything can happen. We’ve been working hard, we’ve been in close games. Now, we’ve just got to finish it out and I think we showed that right there.”

Eric Musselman: Ball security was a point of emphasis at halftime for Arkansas against Vanderbilt

Arkansas struggled with ball security in the first half, committing eight turnovers. That changed after the break as the Razorbacks turned the ball over just twice in the second half and overtime, which was a key part of their success.

Musselman said those struggles – along with the issues on defense – were part of his halftime message.

“It’s like a football team. You can’t turn the ball over with fumbles and interceptions,” Musselman said. “Ball security was pathetic in the first half, defense was pathetic in the first half. But a lot of resiliency in the second half and then, into overtime.”

Now, Arkansas will turn around to take on a red-hot South Carolina team on Wednesday at Bridgestone Arena. The two teams played earlier this year in Fayetteville in a 77-64 Gamecocks victory.

Mussleman pointed out the two teams are in different positions now, though, especially on a neutral court. The preparation will start once the Razorbacks get back to the hotel, and he knows Arkansas has to be at its best.

“Well, we’ll get back to the hotel and we’ll start our prep,” Musselman said. “There’ll be walk-through tonight, there’ll be film tonight. There’ll be a second film session and possibly a third. We’ve got to get ready for what’s one of the best teams in the country, a team that’s really well-coached, a team that understands their roles. But also, a team that we felt like when we played South Carolina in Bud Walton that we were not right at the time.

“I think that we’re playing much better basketball right now, and so are they. They’re 4-1 in their last five, so we’ve got to bring our A-game.”